MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society' source. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:22:28 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3315371&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20184567%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Schweiger O, Biesmeijer JC, Bommarco R, Hickler T, Hulme PE, Klotz S, Kühn I, Moora M, Nielsen A, Ohlemüller R, Petanidou T, Potts SG, Pyšek P, Stout JC, Sykes MT, Tscheulin T, Vilà M, Walther GR, Westphal C, Winter M, Zobel M, Settele J Global change may substantially affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning but little is known about its effects on essential biotic interactions. Since different environmental drivers rarely act in isolation it is important to consider interactive effects. Here, we focus on how two key drivers of anthropogenic environmental change, climate change and the introduction of alien species, affect plant-pollinator interactions. Based on a literature survey we identify climatically sensitive aspects of species interactions, a... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3315371 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3315371 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3267720&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20148861%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Garamszegi LZ, Møller AP Comparative analyses aim to explain interspecific variation in phenotype among taxa. In this context, phylogenetic approaches are generally applied to control for similarity due to common descent, because such phylogenetic relationships can produce spurious similarity in phenotypes (known as phylogenetic inertia or bias). On the other hand, these analyses largely ignore potential biases due to within-species variation. Phylogenetic comparative studies inherently assume that species-specific means from intraspecific samples of modest sample size are biologically meaningful. However, within-species variation is often significant, because measurement errors, within- and between-individual variation, seasonal fluctuations, and differences among popula... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3267720 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3267720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3244576&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20128785%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Evans KL, Hatchwell BJ, Parnell M, Gaston KJ Despite increasing interest in urban ecology the factors limiting the colonisation of towns and cities by species from rural areas are poorly understood. This is largely due to the lack of a detailed conceptual framework for this urbanisation process, and of sufficient case studies. Here, we develop such a framework. This draws upon a wide range of ecological and evolutionary theory and the increasing number of studies of how the markedly divergent conditions in urban and rural areas influence the traits of urban populations and the structure of urban assemblages. We illustrate the importance of this framework by compiling a detailed case study of spatial and temporal variation in the urbanisation of the blackbird Turdus merula. Our... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3244576 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3244576 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3244577&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20128784%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hopper LM The focus of this review is the experimental techniques used to identify forms of social learning shown by humans and nonhuman animals. Specifically, the 'ghost display' and 'end-state' conditions, which have been used to tease apart imitative and emulative learning are evaluated. In a ghost display, the movements of an apparatus are demonstrated, often through the discrete use of fishing-line or hidden mechanisms, without a live model acting directly upon the apparatus so that the apparatus appears to be operated as if by a 'ghostly' agent. In an end-state condition, an observing individual is shown the initial state of the test apparatus, the apparatus is then manipulated out-of-sight and then represented to the individual in its final state. The aim of the ghost d... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3244577 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3244577 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3218405&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20105153%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pautasso M, Dehnen-Schmutz K, Holdenrieder O, Pietravalle S, Salama N, Jeger MJ, Lange E, Hehl-Lange S Global change (climate change together with other worldwide anthropogenic processes such as increasing trade, air pollution and urbanization) will affect plant health at the genetic, individual, population and landscape level. Direct effects include ecosystem stress due to natural resources shortage or imbalance. Indirect effects include (i) an increased frequency of natural detrimental phenomena, (ii) an increased pressure due to already present pests and diseases, (iii) the introduction of new invasive species either as a result of an improved suitability of the climatic conditions or as a result of increased trade, and (iv) the human response to global change. In this revi... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3218405 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3218405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3218404&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20105154%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Clarke A, Pörtner HO Endothermy has evolved at least twice, in the precursors to modern mammals and birds. The most widely accepted explanation for the evolution of endothermy has been selection for enhanced aerobic capacity. We review this hypothesis in the light of advances in our understanding of ATP generation by mitochondria and muscle performance. Together with the development of isotope-based techniques for the measurement of metabolic rate in free-ranging vertebrates these have confirmed the importance of aerobic scope in the evolution of endothermy: absolute aerobic scope, ATP generation by mitochondria and muscle power output are all strongly temperature-dependent, indicating that there would have been significant improvement in whole-organism locomotor ability ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3218404 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3218404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3218403&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20105155%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Benkendorff K The phylum Mollusca represents an enormous diversity of species with eight distinct classes. This review provides a taxonomic breakdown of the published research on marine molluscan natural products and the medicinal products currently derived from molluscs, in order to identify priority targets and strategies for future research. Some marine gastropods and bivalves have been of great interest to natural products chemists, yielding a diversity of chemical classes and several drug leads currently in clinical trials. Molluscs also feature prominently in a broad range of traditional natural medicines, although the active ingredients in the taxa involved are typically unknown. Overall secondary metabolites have only been investigated from a tiny proportion (<1%) o... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3218403 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3218403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3157840&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20055815%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Stevens VM, Turlure C, Baguette M Dispersal has recently gained much attention because of its crucial role in the conservation and evolution of species facing major environmental changes such as habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, and their interactions. Butterflies have long been recognized as ideal model systems for the study of dispersal and a huge amount of data on their ability to disperse has been collected under various conditions. However, no single 'best' method seems to exist leading to the co-occurrence of various approaches to study butterfly mobility, and therefore a high heterogeneity among data on dispersal across this group. Accordingly, we here reviewed the knowledge accumulated on dispersal and mobility in butterflies, to detect general patterns. ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3157840 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3157840 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3135743&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20039874%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Coy P, Avilés M ABSTRACT A block to polyspermy is required for successful fertilisation and embryo survival in mammals. A higher incidence of polyspermy is observed during in vitro fertilisation (IVF) compared with the in vivo situation in several species. Two groups of mechanisms have traditionally been proposed as contributing to the block to polyspermy in mammals: oviduct-based mechanisms, avoiding a massive arrival of spermatozoa in the proximity of the oocyte, and egg-based mechanisms, including changes in the membrane and zona pellucida (ZP) in reaction to the fertilising sperm. Additionally, a mechanism has been described recently which involves modifications of the ZP in the oviduct before the oocyte interacts with spermatozoa, termed "pre-fertilisation zona pellu... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3135743 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3135743 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3135745&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20039865%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Tan DX, Hardeland R, Manchester LC, Paredes SD, Korkmaz A, Sainz RM, Mayo JC, Fuentes-Broto L, Reiter RJ Melatonin is a molecule present in a multitude of taxa and may be ubiquitous in organisms. It has been found in bacteria, unicellular eukaryotes, macroalgae, fungi, plants and animals. A primary biological function of melatonin in primitive unicellular organisms is in antioxidant defence to protect against toxic free radical damage. During evolution, melatonin has been adopted by multicellular organisms to perform many other biological functions. These functions likely include the chemical expression of darkness in vertebrates, environmental tolerance in fungi and plants, sexual signaling in birds and fish, seasonal reproductive regulation in photoperiodic mammals, and immu... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3135745 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3135745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3135744&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20039866%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Gilbert C, McCafferty D, Le Maho Y, Martrette JM, Giroud S, Blanc S, Ancel A Huddling can be defined as "an active and close aggregation of animals". It is a cooperative group behaviour, permitting individuals involved in social thermoregulation to minimize heat loss and thereby lower their energy expenditure, and possibly allowing them to reallocate the saved energy to other functions such as growth or reproduction. Huddling is especially important in the case of animals faced with high heat loss due to a high surface-to-volume ratio, poor insulation, or living in cold environments. Although numerous experimental studies have focused on the huddling behaviour of a wide range of species, to our knowledge, this is the first attempt to review the various implications of this wid... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3135744 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3135744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105359&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015311%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Saunders RM The recent publication of hypotheses explaining the homeotic control of floral organ identity together with the availability of increasingly comprehensive and well-resolved molecular phylogenies presents an ideal opportunity for reassessing current knowledge of floral diversity and evolution in the Annonaceae. This review summarizes currently available information on selected aspects of floral structure and function, including: changes in the number of perianth whorls and the number of perianth parts per whorl; the evolution of sympetaly; the diversity and evolution of pollination chambers (with a novel classification of seven main structural forms of floral chamber based on the different arrangement, size and shape of petals); the evolution of perianth glands; flo... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105359 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105358&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015312%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Levron C, Miquel J, Oros M, Scholz T New data on spermiogenesis and the ultrastructure of spermatozoa of 'true' tapeworms (Eucestoda) are summarized. Since 2001, more than 50 species belonging to most orders of the Eucestoda have been studied or reinvestigated, particularly members of the Caryophyllidea, Spathebothriidea, Diphyllobothriidea, Bothriocephalidea, Trypanorhyncha, Tetraphyllidea, Proteocephalidea, and Cyclophyllidea. A new classification of spermatozoa of eucestodes into seven basic types is proposed and a key to their identification is given. For the first time, a phylogenetic tree inferred from spermatological characters is provided. New information obtained in the last decade has made it possible to fill numerous gaps in the character data matrix, enabling us to... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105358 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105358 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105357&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015313%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Letnic M, Dickman CR Resources are produced in pulses in many terrestrial environments, and have important effects on the population dynamics and assemblage structure of animals that consume them. Resource-pulsing is particularly dramatic in Australian desert environments owing to marked spatial and temporal variability in rainfall, and thus primary productivity. Here, we first review how Australia's desert mammals respond to fluctuations in resource production, and evaluate the merits of three currently accepted models (the ecological refuge, predator refuge and fire-mosaic models) as explanations of the observed dynamics. We then integrate elements of these models into a novel state-and-transition model and apply it to well-studied small mammal assemblages that inhabit the v... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105357 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105357 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105356&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015314%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Gaestel M This review describes recent developments in analysing the influence of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs ) on biological systems by monitoring the cellular stress response as well as overall gene expression. Recent data on the initiation and modulation of the classical cellular stress response by RF-EMFs, comprising expression of heat shock proteins and stimulation of stress-activated protein kinases, are summarised and evaluated. Since isothermic RF-EMF exposure is assumed rather than proven there are clear limitations in using the stress response to describe non-thermal effects of RF-EMFs. In particular, further experiments are needed to characterise better the threshold of the thermal heat shock response and the homogeneity of the cellular response ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105356 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105356 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105355&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015315%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Vanderpoorten A, Robbert Gradstein S, Carine MA, Devos N Recent advances in phylogenetics and, in particular, molecular dating, indicate that transoceanic dispersal has played an important role in shaping plant and animal distributions, obscuring any effect of tectonic history. Taxonomic sampling in biogeographic studies is, however, systematically biased towards vertebrates and higher plants and the possibility remains that a much stronger signature of ancient vicariance might be evident among other organisms, particularly among basal land plants. Here, an explicit Bayesian model-based approach was used to investigate global-scale biogeographic patterns among liverwort genera and to determine whether the patterns identified are consistent with the expectations of vicariance o... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105355 Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105355 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105354&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015316%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Chown SL, Gaston KJ Body size is a key feature of organisms and varies continuously because of the effects of natural selection on the size-dependency of resource acquisition and mortality rates. This review provides a critical and synthetic overview of body size variation in insects from a predominantly macroecological (large-scale temporal and spatial) perspective. Because of the importance of understanding the proximate determinants of adult size, it commences with a brief summary of the physiological mechanisms underlying adult body size and its variation, based mostly on findings for the model species Drosophila melanogaster and Manduca sexta. Variation in nutrition and temperature have variable effects on critical weight, the interval to cessation of growth (or terminal ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105354 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105354 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105362&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20002389%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Woolley DM Eukaryotic flagella and cilia have a remarkably uniform internal 'engine' known as the '9+2' axoneme. With few exceptions, the function of cilia and flagella is to beat rhythmically and set up relative motion between themselves and the liquid that surrounds them. The molecular basis of axonemal movement is understood in considerable detail, with the exception of the mechanism that provides its rhythmical or oscillatory quality. Some kind of repetitive 'switching' event is assumed to occur; there are several proposals regarding the nature of the 'switch' and how it might operate. Herein I first summarise all the factors known to influence the rate of the oscillation (the beating frequency). Many of these factors exert their effect through modulating the mean sliding ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105362 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105361&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20002390%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nyman T Coevolutionary studies on plants and plant-feeding insects have significantly improved our understanding of the role of niche shifts in the generation of new species. Evolving plant lineages essentially constitute moving islands and archipelagoes in resource space, and host shifts by insects are usually preceded by colonizations of novel resources. Critical to hypotheses concerning ecological speciation is what happens immediately before and after colonization attempts: if an available plant is too similar to the current host(s), it simply will be incorporated into the existing diet, but if it is too different, it will not be colonized in the first place. It thus seems that the probability of speciation is maximized when alternative hosts are at an 'intermediate' dista... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105361 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105361 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105360&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20002391%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ketchum HF, Benson RB Previous attempts to resolve plesiosaurian phylogeny are reviewed and a new phylogenetic data set of 66 taxa (67% of ingroup taxa examined directly) and 178 characters (eight new) is presented. We recover two key novel results: a monophyletic Plesiosauridae comprising Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, Hydrorion brachypterygius, Microcleidus homalospondylus, Occitanosaurus tournemirensis and Seeleyosaurus guilelmiimperatoris; and five plesiosaurian taxa recovered outside the split between Plesiosauroidea and Pliosauroidea. These taxa are Attenborosaurus conybeari, 'Plesiosaurus'macrocephalus and a clade comprising Archaeonectrus rostratus, Macroplata tenuiceps and BMNH 49202. Based on this result, a new name, Neoplesiosauria, is erected for the clade comprising ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105360 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3105353&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D20015317%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ne'eman G, Jürgens A, Newstrom-Lloyd L, Potts SG, Dafni A ABSTRACT Measuring pollinator performance has become increasingly important with emerging needs for risk assessment in conservation and sustainable agriculture that require multi-year and multi-site comparisons across studies. However, comparing pollinator performance across studies is difficult because of the diversity of concepts and disparate methods in use. Our review of the literature shows many unresolved ambiguities. Two different assessment concepts predominate: the first estimates stigmatic pollen deposition and the underlying pollinator behaviour parameters, while the second estimates the pollinator's contribution to plant reproductive success, for example in terms of seed set. Both concepts include a num... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3105353 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3105353 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3057158&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19951335%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Richardson MK, Admiraal J, Wright GM Lampreys are a group of aquatic chordates whose relationships to hagfishes and jawed vertebrates are still debated. Lamprey embryology is of interest to evolutionary biologists because it may shed light on vertebrate origins. For this and other reasons, lamprey embryology has been extensively researched by biologists from a range of disciplines. However, many of the key studies of lamprey comparative embryology are relatively inaccessible to the modern scientist. Therefore, in view of the current resurgence of interest in lamprey evolution and development, we present here a review of lamprey developmental anatomy. We identify several features of early organogenesis, including the origin of the nephric duct, that need to be re-examined with ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3057158 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3057158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3031304&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19930171%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Li Y, Wu R Understanding how an organism develops into a fully functioning adult from a mass of undifferentiated cells may reveal different strategies that allow the organism to survive under limiting conditions. Here, we review an analytical model for characterizing quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that underlie variation in growth trajectories and developmental timing. This model, called functional mapping, incorporates fundamental principles behind biological processes or networks that are bridged with mathematical functions into a statistical mapping framework. Functional mapping estimates parameters that determine the shape and function of a particular biological process, thus providing a flexible platform to test biologically meaningful hypotheses regarding the complex rel... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3031304 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3031304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3031303&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19930172%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Swift TL, Hannon SJ A major conservation concern is whether population size and other ecological variables change linearly with habitat loss, or whether they suddenly decline more rapidly below a "critical threshold" level of habitat. The most commonly discussed explanation for critical threshold responses to habitat loss focus on habitat configuration. As habitat loss progresses, the remaining habitat is increasingly fragmented or the fragments are increasingly isolated, which may compound the effects of habitat loss. In this review we also explore other possible explanations for apparently nonlinear relationships between habitat loss and ecological responses, including Allee effects and time lags, and point out that some ecological variables will inherently respond nonlinear... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3031303 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3031303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3015616&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19922534%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Schuett W, Tregenza T, Dall SR ABSTRACT Consistent individual behavioural tendencies, termed "personalities", have been identified in a wide range of animals. Functional explanations for personality have been proposed, but as yet, very little consideration has been given to a possible role for sexual selection in maintaining differences in personality and its stability within individuals. We provide an overview of the available literature on the role of personality traits in intrasexual competition and mate choice in both human and non-human animals and integrate this into a framework for considering how sexual selection can generate and maintain personality. For this, we consider the evolution and maintenance of both main aspects of animal personality: inter-individual variat... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3015616 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3015616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2977800&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19895605%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Langer MC, Ezcurra MD, Bittencourt JS, Novas FE ABSTRACT The oldest unequivocal records of Dinosauria were unearthed from Late Triassic rocks (approximately 230 Ma) accumulated over extensional rift basins in southwestern Pangea. The better known of these are Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Pisanosaurus mertii, Eoraptor lunensis, and Panphagia protos from the Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina, and Staurikosaurus pricei and Saturnalia tupiniquim from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil. No uncontroversial dinosaur body fossils are known from older strata, but the Middle Triassic origin of the lineage may be inferred from both the footprint record and its sister-group relation to Ladinian basal dinosauromorphs. These include the typical Marasuchus lilloensis, more basal forms su... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2977800 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2977800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2977799&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19895606%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Glazier DS ABSTRACT The scaling of metabolic rate with body mass has long been a controversial topic. Some workers have claimed that the slope of log-log metabolic scaling relationships typically obeys a universal 3/4-power law resulting from the geometry of resource-transport networks. Others have attempted to explain the broad diversity of metabolic scaling relationships. Although several potentially useful models have been proposed, at present none successfully predicts the entire range of scaling relationships seen among both physiological states and taxonomic groups of animals and plants. Here I argue that our understanding may be aided by three shifts in focus: from explaining average tendencies to explaining variation between extreme boundary limits, from explaining the... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2977799 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2977799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2935210&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19857213%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Gaubert P, Denys G, Oberdorff T We used the supertree approach of matrix representation with parsimony to reconstruct to date the most exhaustive (genus-level) phylogeny of Cyprinidae. The supertree of Cyprinidae, representing 397 taxa (237 nominal genera) and 990 pseudocharacters, was well resolved (96%) through extended consensus majority rule, although 36 nodes (9.4%) were unsupported. The proportion of shared taxa among source trees was very low after calculation of the taxonomic coverage index (TCI = 0.059), which is proposed here as a more accurate alternative to the usual ratios calculated from the number of pseudo-characters or source trees per taxon. We define a new index for the calculation of partitioned qualitative clade support, the partitioned rQS ((p)rQS), which... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2935210 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:56:07 +0100 2935210 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2766822&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19725819%26dopt%3DAbstract We describe: (1) how conformational changes in the Ca(2+) sensor calmodulin result in the exposure of binding pockets for the target proteins (CaMKs and calcineurin). (2) How Calmodulin consequently activates either the Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinases pathways (via CaMKs) or calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine phosphatases (via calcineurin). (3) How calmodulin kinases alter transcription in the nucleus through the phosphorylation, deactivation and translocation of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. (4) How calcineurin transmits signals to the nucleus through the dephosphorylation and translocation of NFAT from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. PMID: 19725819 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical So... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2766822 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2766822 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2766821&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19725820%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dickinson HG, Grant-Downton R ABSTRACT Alternation of generations underpins all plant life histories and is held to possess important adaptive features. A wide range of data have accumulated over the past century which suggest that alternation from sporophyte to gametophyte in angiosperms includes a significant phase of 'informational reprogramming', leaving the founder cells of the gametophyte developmentally uncommitted. This review attempts to bring together results from these historic studies with more recent data on molecular and epigenetic events which accompany alternation, gametophyte development and gametogenesis in angiosperms. It is striking that most members of the other principal group of multicellular eukaryotes - the animals - have a completely different a life ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2766821 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2766821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2702972&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19673856%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Møller AP, Arriero E, Lobato E, Merino S ABSTRACT Parasitism is a common cause of host mortality, but little is known about the ecological factors affecting parasite virulence (the rate of mortality among infected hosts). We reviewed 117 field estimates of parasite-induced nestling mortality in birds, showing that there was significant consistency in mortality among host and parasite taxa. Virulence increased towards the tropics in analyses of both species-specific data and phylogenetic analyses. We found evidence of greater parasite prevalence being associated with reduced virulence. Furthermore, bird species breeding in open nest sites suffered from greater parasite-induced mortality than hole-nesting species. By contrast, parasite specialization and generation time of ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2702972 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2702972 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2702971&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19673857%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: McWhorter TJ, Caviedes-Vidal E, Karasov WH ABSTRACT We review digestion and osmoregulation in the avian gut, with an emphasis on the ways these different functions might interact to support or constrain each other and the ways they support the functioning of the whole animal in its natural environment. Differences between birds and other vertebrates are highlighted because these differences may make birds excellent models for study and may suggest interesting directions for future research. At a given body size birds, compared with mammals, tend to eat more food but have less small intestine and retain food in their gastrointestinal tract (GIT) for shorter periods of time, despite generally higher mass-specific energy demands. On most foods, however, they are not less efficien... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2702971 Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2702971 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2682276&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19659884%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Vergne AL, Pritz MB, Mathevon N Crocodilians and birds are the modern representatives of Phylum Archosauria. Although there have been recent advances in our understanding of the phylogeny and ecology of ancient archosaurs like dinosaurs, it still remains a challenge to obtain reliable information about their behaviour. The comparative study of birds and crocodiles represents one approach to this interesting problem. One of their shared behavioural features is the use of acoustic communication, especially in the context of parental care. Although considerable data are available for birds, information concerning crocodilians is limited. The aim of this review is to summarize current knowledge about acoustic communication in crocodilians, from sound production to hearing processe... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2682276 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2682276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2682275&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19659885%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Monastyrska I, Rieter E, Klionsky DJ, Reggiori F Autophagy is involved in a wide range of physiological processes including cellular remodeling during development, immuno-protection against heterologous invaders and elimination of aberrant or obsolete cellular structures. This conserved degradation pathway also plays a key role in maintaining intracellular nutritional homeostasis and during starvation, for example, it is involved in the recycling of unnecessary cellular components to compensate for the limitation of nutrients. Autophagy is characterized by specific membrane rearrangements that culminate with the formation of large cytosolic double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes. Autophagosomes sequester cytoplasmic material that is destined for degradation. Once compl... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2682275 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2682275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2682274&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19659886%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Block W, Lewis Smith RI, Kennedy AD Antarctic fellfields present organisms with a heterogeneous habitat characterised by a wide variety of environmental stresses. These include low temperatures, limited moisture availability, frequent and often rapid freeze-thaw and hydration-dehydration cycles, exposure to high photosynthetic photon flux density and ultraviolet (uv) irradiance, seasonal snow cover, high winds, cryoturbation and, depending on location south of the Antarctic Circle, considerable daylight in summer. Most of these factors vary both predictably and unpredictably in spatial and temporal planes. In response to this adverse environment, fellfield organisms have developed a variety of strategies to overcome physiological stress and to exploit the limited resources ava... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2682274 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2682274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2682273&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19659887%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lima SL A growing body of work suggests that breeding birds have a significant capacity to assess and respond, over ecological time, to changes in the risk of predation to both themselves and their eggs or nestlings. This review investigates the nature of this flexibility in the face of predation from both behavioural and reproductive perspectives, and also explores several directions for future research. Most available work addresses different aspects of nest predation. A substantial change in breeding location is perhaps the best documented response to nest predation, but such changes are not always observed and not necessarily the best strategy. Changes in nesting microhabitat (to more concealed locations) following predation are known to occur. Surprisingly little work add... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2682273 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2682273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546638&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19485985%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Donohue I, Garcia Molinos J Abstract Increased sediment loading comprises one of the most important and pervasive anthropogenic impacts on aquatic ecosystems globally. In spite of this, little is known of the overall effects of increased sediment loads on lakes. By modifying both bottom-up and top-down ecological processes and restructuring energy flow pathways, increased sediment loads not only alter biotic assemblage structure and ecological functioning significantly, but frequently result in reduced biological diversity and productivity. Although lake food-webs can be subsidised to some extent by the adsorption of organic carbon to fine sediments, trophic structure and the composition of biotic assemblages remain likely to be modified considerably. The mineralogy and partic... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546638 Wed, 27 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546638 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546636&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19485986%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dunbar RI, Korstjens AH, Lehmann J, Abstract Conventional approaches to population biology emphasise the roles of climatic conditions, nutrient flow and predation as constraints on population dynamics. We argue here that this focus has obscured the role of time as a crucial constraint on species' abilities to survive in some habitats. Time constraints may be particularly intrusive both for species that live in intensely bonded groups (where the need to devote time to social interaction may ultimately limit the size of group that a species can maintain in a particular habitat) and for taxa that face constraints on the length of the active day. We use a linear programming approach that allows us to specify both how time allocations to different activities are influenced by loca... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546636 Wed, 27 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546634&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19485987%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kampichler C, Bruckner A Abstract Litterbags have been utilized in soil ecology for about 50 years. They are useful because they confine organic material and thus enable the study of decomposition dynamics (mass loss and/or nutrient loss through time, colonization by soil biota) in situ, i.e. under field conditions. Researchers can easily restrict or permit access to certain size classes of soil fauna to determine their contribution to litter mass loss by choosing adequate mesh size or applying specific biocides. In particular, the mesofauna has received much attention since it comprises two very abundant and diverse microarthropod groups, the Collembola (springtails) and Acari (mites). We comprehensively searched the literature from the mid-1960s to the end of 2005 for report... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546634 Tue, 26 May 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546634 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546652&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19382932%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hargreaves AL, Harder LD, Johnson SD Many of the diverse animals that consume floral rewards act as efficient pollinators; however, others 'steal' rewards without 'paying' for them by pollinating. In contrast to the extensive studies of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of nectar theft, pollen theft and its implications remain largely neglected, even though it affects plant reproduction more directly. Here we review existing studies of pollen theft and find that: (1) most pollen thieves pollinate other plant species, suggesting that theft generally arises from a mismatch between the flower and thief that precludes pollen deposition, (2) bees are the most commonly documented pollen thieves, and (3) the floral traits that typically facilitate pollen theft involve eith... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546652 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546650&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19382933%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Schaedelin FC, Taborsky M Animal signals may result from construction behaviour and can provide receivers with essential information in various contexts. Here we explore the potential benefits of extended phenotypes with a signalling function as compared to bodily ornaments and behavioural displays. Their independence of the body, their physical persistence and the morphological and cognitive conditions required for their construction allow unique communication possibilities. We classify various levels of information transfer by extended phenotype signals and explore the differences between secreted signals and signals resulting from collection and construction, which usually involve higher behavioural complexity. We examine evolutionary pathways of extended phenotypes with a ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546650 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546648&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19382934%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Witten PE, Huysseune A Resorption and remodelling of skeletal tissues is required for development and growth, mechanical adaptation, repair, and mineral homeostasis of the vertebrate skeleton. Here we review for the first time the current knowledge about resorption and remodelling of the skeleton in teleost fish, the largest and most diverse group of extant vertebrates. Teleost species are increasingly used in aquaculture and as models in biomedical skeletal research. Thus, detailed knowledge is required to establish the differences and similarities between mammalian and teleost skeletal remodelling, and between distantly related species such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) and medaka (Oryzias latipes). The cellular mechanisms of differentiation and activation of osteoclasts and th... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546648 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546646&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19391200%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Russell DA, Rich FJ, Schneider V, Lynch-Stieglitz J Physical and biological evidence supports the probable existence of an enclave of relatively warm climate located between the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in the United States during the Last Glacial Maximum. The region supported a mosaic of forest and prairie habitats inhabited by a "Floridian" ice-age biota. Plant and vertebrate remains suggest an ecological gradient towards Cape Hatteras (35 degreesN) wherein forests tended to replace prairies, and browsing proboscideans tended to replace grazing proboscideans. Beyond 35 degreesN, warm waters of the Gulf Stream were deflected towards the central Atlantic, and a cold-facies biota replaced "Floridian" biota on the Atlantic coastal plain. Because of n... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546646 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546644&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19391202%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lindquist ES, Krauss KW, Green PT, O'Dowd DJ, Sherman PM, Smith TJ Plant populations are regulated by a diverse assortment of abiotic and biotic factors that influence seed dispersal and viability, and seedling establishment and growth at the microsite. Rarely does one animal guild exert as significant an influence on different plant assemblages as land crabs. We review three tropical coastal ecosystems-mangroves, island maritime forests, and mainland coastal terrestrial forests-where land crabs directly influence forest composition by limiting tree establishment and recruitment. Land crabs differentially prey on seeds, propagules and seedlings along nutrient, chemical and physical environmental gradients. In all of these ecosystems, but especially mangroves, abiotic gradients... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546644 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546642&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19391204%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Herrera KJ, Somarelli JA, Lowery RK, Herrera RJ Neanderthals represent an extinct hominid lineage that existed in Europe and Asia for nearly 400,000 years. They thrived in these regions for much of this time, but declined in numbers and went extinct around 30,000 years ago. Interestingly, their disappearance occurred subsequent to the arrival of modern humans into these areas, which has prompted some to argue that Neanderthals were displaced by better suited and more adaptable modern humans. Still others have postulated that Neanderthals were assimilated into the gene pool of modern humans by admixture. Until relatively recently, conclusions about the relationships between Neanderthals and contemporary humans were based solely upon evidence left behind in the fossil and archae... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546642 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2546640&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19438430%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Benskin CM, Wilson K, Jones K, Hartley IR Abstract The importance of wild birds as potential vectors of disease has received recent renewed empirical interest, especially regarding human health. Understanding the spread of bacterial pathogens in wild birds may serve as a useful model for examining the spread of other disease organisms, both amongst birds, and from birds to other taxa. Information regarding the normal gastrointestinal bacterial flora is limited for the majority of wild bird species, with the few well-studied examples concentrating on bacteria that are zoonotic and/or relate to avian species of commercial interest. However, most studies are limited by small sample sizes, the frequent absence of longitudinal data, and the constraints of using selective techniques... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2546640 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2546640 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2324030&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19344429%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kassahn KS, Crozier RH, Pörtner HO, Caley MJ Abstract Recent advances in molecular biology and the use of DNA microarrays for gene expression profiling are providing new insights into the animal stress response, particularly the effects of stress on gene regulation. However, interpretation of the complex transcriptional changes that occur during stress still poses many challenges because the relationship between changes at the transcriptional level and other levels of biological organisation is not well understood. To confront these challenges, a conceptual model linking physiological and transcriptional responses to stress would be helpful. Here, we provide the basis for one such model by synthesising data from organismal, endocrine, cellular, molecular, and genomic stud... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2324030 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2324030 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2324027&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19344430%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hasson O, Stone L Abstract Females that are socially bonded to a single male, either in a social monogamy or in a social polygyny, are often sexually polyandrous. Extrapair copulations (EPC) have often been suggested or rejected, on both empirical and theoretical grounds, as an important mechanism that enables females to avoid fertility risks in case their socially bonded male is infertile. Here, we explore this possibility in two steps. First, we present a mathematical model that assumes that females have no precopulatory information about male fertility, and shows that a female EPC strategy increases female reproductive success only if certain specific conditions are upheld in the nature of male infertility. In particular, these conditions require both (i) that fertile sperm... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2324027 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2324027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2153647&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19183335%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Dechmann DK, Safi K Comparative studies of brain size have a long history and contributed much to our understanding of the evolution and function of the brain and its parts. Recently, bats have been used increasingly as model organisms for such studies because of their large number of species, high diversity of life-history strategies, and a comparatively detailed knowledge of their neuroanatomy. Here, we draw attention to inherent problems of comparative brain size studies, highlighting limitations but also suggesting alternative approaches. We argue that the complexity and diversity of neurological tasks that the brain and its functional regions (subdivisions) must solve cannot be explained by a single or few variables representing selective pressures. Using an example we sh... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2153647 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2153647 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2098581&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19133959%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Usher-Smith JA, Huang CL, Fraser JA Abstract Regulation of cell volume is a fundamental property of all animal cells and is of particular importance in skeletal muscle where exercise is associated with a wide range of cellular changes that would be expected to influence cell volume. These complex electrical, metabolic and osmotic changes, however, make rigorous study of the consequences of individual factors on muscle volume difficult despite their likely importance during exercise. Recent charge-difference modelling of cell volume distinguishes three major aspects to processes underlying cell volume control: (i) determination by intracellular impermeant solute; (ii) maintenance by metabolically dependent processes directly balancing passive solute and water fluxes that would ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2098581 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2098581 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2098580&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19133960%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Butler RJ, Barrett PM, Kenrick P, Penn MG Abstract The significance of co-evolution over ecological timescales is well established, yet it remains unclear to what extent co-evolutionary processes contribute to driving large-scale evolutionary and ecological changes over geological timescales. Some of the most intriguing and pervasive long-term co-evolutionary hypotheses relate to proposed interactions between herbivorous non-avian dinosaurs and Mesozoic plants, including cycads. Dinosaurs have been proposed as key dispersers of cycad seeds during the Mesozoic, and temporal variation in cycad diversity and abundance has been linked to dinosaur faunal changes. Here we assess the evidence for proposed hypotheses of trophic and evolutionary interactions between these two groups us... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2098580 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2098580 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2042405&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19077127%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: McLachlan AJ, Ladle RJ Abstract Detritus (dead organic matter), largely of terrestrial origin, is superabundant in inland waters but because of its indigestible nature, would appear to be a poor food source for animals. Yet this unpromising material is widely used as food and indeed can be viewed as a defining characteristic of the freshwater environment. We here explore the relationships among animals, detritus and its associated micro-organism decomposers, taking a functional approach. We pose questions about interrelationships and attempt to arrive at new insights by disentangling them from an adaptive point of view. To do this we have been careful in selecting the habitats for detailed consideration. Rain pools on rock surfaces in tropical Africa and pools on peat moorland... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2042405 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2042405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007851&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19046398%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Martínez Del Rio C, Wolf N, Carleton SA, Gannes LZ Abstract About 10 years ago, reviews of the use of stable isotopes in animal ecology predicted explosive growth in this field and called for laboratory experiments to provide a mechanistic foundation to this growth. They identified four major areas of inquiry: (1) the dynamics of isotopic incorporation, (2) mixing models, (3) the problem of routing, and (4) trophic discrimination factors. Because these areas remain central to isotopic ecology, we use them as organising foci to review the experimental results that isotopic ecologists have collected in the intervening 10 years since the call for laboratory experiments. We also review the models that have been built to explain and organise experimental results in these areas... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007851 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2007851 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007850&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19046399%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Thornhill R, Fincher CL, Aran D Abstract The countries of the world vary in their position along the autocracy-democracy continuum of values. Traditionally, scholars explain this variation as based on resource distribution and disparity among nations. We provide a different framework for understanding the autocracy-democracy dimension and related value dimensions, one that is complementary (not alternative) to the research tradition, but more encompassing, involving both evolutionary (ultimate) and proximate causation of the values. We hypothesize that the variation in values pertaining to autocracy-democracy arises fundamentally out of human (Homo sapiens) species-typical psychological adaptation that manifests contingently, producing values and associated behaviours that fun... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007850 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2007850 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007849&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19046400%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lynam-Lennon N, Maher SG, Reynolds JV Abstract microRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, non-protein-coding RNAs that function to regulate gene expression. In mammals this regulation is primarily carried out by repression of translation. miRNAs play important roles in homeostatic processes such as development, cell proliferation and cell death. Recently the dysregulation of miRNAs has been linked to cancer initiation and progression, indicating that miRNAs may play roles as tumour suppressor genes or oncogenes. The role of miRNAs in apoptosis is not fully understood, however, evidence is mounting that miRNAs are important in this process. The dysregulation of miRNAs involved in apoptosis may provide a mechanism for cancer development and resistance to cancer therapy. This revie... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007849 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2007849 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007848&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19046401%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Wcislo WT, Tierney SM Abstract Most bees forage for floral resources during the day, but temporal patterns of foraging activity vary extensively, and foraging in dim-light environments has evolved repeatedly. Facultative dim-light foraging behaviour is known in five of nine families of bees, while obligate behaviour is known in four families and evolved independently at least 19 times. The light intensity under which bees forage varies by a factor of 10(8), and therefore the evolution of dim-light foraging represents the invasion of a new, extreme niche. The repeated evolution of dim-light foraging behaviour in bees allows tests of the hypothesis that behaviour acts as an evolutionary pacemaker. With the exception of one species of Apis, facultative dim-light foragers show no ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007848 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2007848 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2007847&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19046402%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Houlbrèque F, Ferrier-Pagès C Abstract The dual character of corals, that they are both auto- and heterotrophs, was recognized early in the twentieth Century. It is generally accepted that the symbiotic association between corals and their endosymbiotic algae (called zooxanthellae) is fundamental to the development of coral reefs in oligotrophic tropical oceans because zooxanthellae transfer the major part of their photosynthates to the coral host (autotrophic nutrition). However, numerous studies have confirmed that many species of corals are also active heterotrophs, ingesting organisms ranging from bacteria to mesozooplankton. Heterotrophy accounts for between 0 and 66% of the fixed carbon incorporated into coral skeletons and can meet from 15 to 35% of daily meta... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2007847 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2007847 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1993365&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19032595%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Heino J, Virkkala R, Toivonen H Abstract Current rates of climate change are unprecedented, and biological responses to these changes have also been rapid at the levels of ecosystems, communities, and species. Most research on climate change effects on biodiversity has concentrated on the terrestrial realm, and considerable changes in terrestrial biodiversity and species' distributions have already been detected in response to climate change. The studies that have considered organisms in the freshwater realm have also shown that freshwater biodiversity is highly vulnerable to climate change, with extinction rates and extirpations of freshwater species matching or exceeding those suggested for better-known terrestrial taxa. There is some evidence that freshwater species have ex... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1993365 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1993365 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1977068&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D19016672%26dopt%3DAbstract We present new methods (and software) to extract food-independent parameter values of the energy budget from food-dependent quantities that are easy to observe, and so facilitate the practical application of the theory to enhance predictability and extrapolation. A natural sequence of 10 steps is discussed to obtain some compound parameters first, then the primary parameters, then the composition parameters and finally the thermodynamic parameters; this sequence matches a sequence of required data of increasing complexity which is discussed in detail. Many applications do not require knowledge of all parameters, and we discuss methods to extrapolate parameters from one species to another. The conversion of mass, volume and energy measures of biomass is discussed; these conversions are not ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1977068 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1977068 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1906865&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18947335%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pepper JW, Herron MD Among biologists, there is no general agreement on exactly what entities qualify as 'organisms'. Instead, there are multiple competing organism concepts and definitions. While some authors think this is a problem that should be corrected, others have suggested that biology does not actually need an organism concept. We argue that the organism concept is central to biology and should not be abandoned. Both organism concepts and operational definitions are useful. We review criteria used for recognizing organisms and conclude that they are not categorical but rather continuously variable. Different organism concepts are useful for addressing different questions, and it is important to be explicit about which is being used. Finally, we examine the origins of ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1906865 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1906865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1906864&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18947336%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nowak EM, Theimer TC, Schuett GW Snakes typically are not considered top carnivores, yet in many ecosystems they are a major predatory influence. A literature search confirmed that terrestrial ectotherms such as snakes are largely absent in most discussions of predator-prey dynamics. Here, we review classical functional and numerical responses of predator-prey relationships and then assess whether these traditional views are consistent with what we know of one group of snakes (true vipers and pitvipers: Viperidae). Specifically, we compare behavioural and physiological characteristics of vipers with those of more commonly studied mammalian (endothermic) predators and discuss how functional and numerical responses of vipers are fundamentally different. Overall, when compared to... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1906864 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1906864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1906863&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18947337%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Fröbisch NB Two different patterns of the condensation and chondrification of the limbs of tetrapods are known from extensive studies on their early skeletal development. These are on the one hand postaxial dominance in the sequential formation of skeletal elements in amniotes and anurans, and on the other, preaxial dominance in urodeles. The present study investigates the relative sequence of ossification in the fore- and hindlimbs of selected tetrapod taxa based on a literature survey in comparison to the patterns of early skeletal development, i.e. mesenchymal condensation and chondrification, representing essential steps in the late stages of tetrapod limb development. This reveals the degree of conservation and divergence of the ossification sequence from early morph... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1906863 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1906863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1841933&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18823390%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Fenchel T, Finlay B Abstract Oxygen has two faces. On one side it is the terminal electron acceptor of aerobic respiration - the most efficient engine of energy metabolism. On the other hand, oxygen is toxic because the reduction of molecular O(2) creates reactive oxygen species such as the superoxide anion, peroxide, and the hydroxyl radical. Probably most prokaryotes, and virtually all eukaryotes, depend on oxygen respiration, and we show that the ambiguous relation to oxygen is both an evolutionary force and a dominating factor driving functional interactions and the spatial structure of microbial communities.We focus on microbial communities that are specialised for life in concentration gradients of oxygen, where they acquire the full panoply of specific requirements from... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841933 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1841933 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1841932&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18823391%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lesne A Abstract The term robustness is encountered in very different scientific fields, from engineering and control theory to dynamical systems to biology. The main question addressed herein is whether the notion of robustness and its correlates (stability, resilience, self-organisation) developed in physics are relevant to biology, or whether specific extensions and novel frameworks are required to account for the robustness properties of living systems. To clarify this issue, the different meanings covered by this unique term are discussed; it is argued that they crucially depend on the kind of perturbations that a robust system should by definition withstand. Possible mechanisms underlying robust behaviours are examined, either encountered in all natural systems (symmetri... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841932 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1841932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1841931&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18823392%26dopt%3DAbstract We present hypotheses of the development of serpentine endemism and a description of functional traits of serpentine plants together with a synthesis of species interactions in serpentine soils and their effects on community structure and ecosystem productivity. In addition, we propose hypotheses about the effects of the 'serpentine syndrome' on ecosystem processes including productivity and decomposition. PMID: 18823392 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society) Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1841931 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1841931 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1786734&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18783362%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Crespi B I review and evaluate genetic and genomic evidence salient to the hypothesis that the development and evolution of psychotic spectrum conditions have been mediated in part by alterations of imprinted genes expressed in the brain. Evidence from the genetics and genomics of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, Prader-Willi syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, and other neurogenetic conditions support the hypothesis that the etiologies of psychotic spectrum conditions commonly involve genetic and epigenetic imbalances in the effects of imprinted genes, with a bias towards increased relative effects from imprinted genes with maternal expression or other genes favouring maternal interests. By contrast, autistic spectrum conditions, including Kanner autism, Asperge... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1786734 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1786734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1786733&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18783363%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Marino L, Butti C, Connor RC, Fordyce RE, Herman LM, Hof PR, Lefebvre L, Lusseau D, McCowan B, Nimchinsky EA, Pack AA, Reidenberg JS, Reiss D, Rendell L, Uhen MD, Van der Gucht E, Whitehead H In a recent publication in Biological Reviews, Manger (2006) made the controversial claim that the large brains of cetaceans evolved to generate heat during oceanic cooling in the Oligocene epoch and not, as is the currently accepted view, as a basis for an increase in cognitive or information-processing capabilities in response to ecological or social pressures. Manger further argued that dolphins and other cetaceans are considerably less intelligent than generally thought. In this review we challenge Manger's arguments and provide abundant evidence that modern cetacean brains are large ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1786733 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1786733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1721256&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18710437%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Blair HC, Zaidi M, Huang CL, Sun L Vertebrate skeletal differentiation retains elements from simpler phyla, and reflects the differentiation of supporting tissues programmed by primary embryonic development. This developmental scheme is driven by homeotic genes expressed in sequence, with subdivision of skeletal primordia driven by a combination of seven transmembrane-pass receptors responding to Wnt-family signals, and by bone morphogenetic family signals that define borders of individual bones. In sea-dwelling vertebrates, an essentially complete form of the skeleton adapted by the land-living vertebrates develops in cartilage, based on type II collagen and hydrophilic proteoglycans. In bony fishes, this skeleton is mineralized to form a solid bony skeleton. In the land-livi... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1721256 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1721256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591734&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18573094%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Bowler K, Terblanche JS Temperature has dramatic evolutionary fitness consequences and is therefore a major factor determining the geographic distribution and abundance of ectotherms. However, the role that age might have on insect thermal tolerance is often overlooked in studies of behaviour, ecology, physiology and evolutionary biology. Here, we review the evidence for ontogenetic and ageing effects on traits of high- and low-temperature tolerance in insects and show that these effects are typically pronounced for most taxa in which data are available. We therefore argue that basal thermal tolerance and acclimation responses (i.e. phenotypic plasticity) are strongly influenced by age and/or ontogeny and may confound studies of temperature responses if unaccounted for. We out... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591734 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591733&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18573095%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Todd PA When describing coral shape and form the term phenotypic plasticity, i.e. environment-induced changes in morphology, is often used synonymously with intraspecific variation. Variation, however, may simply be due to genetic differentiation (polymorphism). Of the 1314 extant scleractinian coral species, less than 20 have been tested for plastic responses. Morphological plasticity has important implications for coral identification, as skeletal features used in coral systematics are directly affected by environment. Furthermore, plastic changes can indicate how corals acclimatise to environmental change. The studies that have examined phenotypic plasticity in corals experimentally can be divided into two groups, i.e. 'non-clonal'-those that have transplanted whole colonie... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591733 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591732&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18573096%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Korb J, Hartfelder K Termites (Isoptera) are the phylogenetically oldest social insects, but in scientific research they have always stood in the shadow of the social Hymenoptera. Both groups of social insects evolved complex societies independently and hence, their different ancestry provided them with different life-history preadaptations for social evolution. Termites, the 'social cockroaches', have a hemimetabolous mode of development and both sexes are diploid, while the social Hymenoptera belong to the holometabolous insects and have a haplodiploid mode of sex determination. Despite this apparent disparity it is interesting to ask whether termites and social Hymenoptera share common principles in their individual and social ontogenies and how these are related to the evo... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591732 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591731&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18573097%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Witting L Since neo-Darwinism arose from the work of Darwin and Mendel evolution by natural selection has been seen as contingent and historical being defined by an a posteriori selection process with no a priori laws that explain why evolution on Earth has taken the direction of the major evolutionary trends and transitions instead of any other direction. Recently, however, major life-history trends and transitions have been explained as inevitable because of a deterministic selection that unfolds from the energetic state of the organism and the density-dependent competitive interactions that arise from self-replication in limited environments. I describe differences and similarities between the historical and deterministic selection processes, illustrate concepts using life-... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591731 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591731 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591736&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18557976%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Zhang XH, Weissbach H The majority of extant life forms thrive in an O(2)-rich environment, which unavoidably induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during cellular activities. ROS readily oxidize methionine (Met) residues in proteins/peptides to form methionine sulphoxide [Met(O)] that can lead to impaired protein function. Two methionine sulphoxide reductases, MsrA and MsrB, catalyse the reduction of the S and R epimers, respectively, of Met(O) in proteins to Met. The Msr system has two known functions in protecting cells against oxidative damage. The first is to repair proteins that have lost activity due to Met oxidation and the second is to function as part of a scavenger system to remove ROS through the reversible oxidation/reduction of Met residues in p... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591736 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591735&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18557977%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: White TC More and more studies are demonstrating that populations of animals - from herbivores to top predators, vertebrates and invertebrates - are limited by their food, and that the availability of this food is dictated by the weather. Satellite monitoring is revealing how cyclic and quasi-cyclic climatic patterns, like the El Niño Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation, are driving and synchronising these weather-driven changes in the supplies of food. Changes in the amount of food available operate to limit the abundance of populations largely through their influence on the survival of the very young: the Achilles heel of all populations. Any individual organism struggles to use whatever resources it can get from a mostly inhospitable environment to ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591735 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591743&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18397179%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Werner M, Simmons LW The flagellosperm of insects, although following a general ground plan, exhibit considerable variation in morphology and ultrastructure across taxa, consistent with a history of rapid and divergent evolution. Sperm competition, which occurs when sperm of two or more males compete for the fertilization of a female's ova, has been recognized as a significant driving force in the evolution of insect sperm structure. Despite a considerable volume of data on sperm morphology, little is known about the motility of insect sperm. Understanding insect sperm motility would help to refine models of sexual selection on insect sperm, and would throw light on the selective mechanisms that shape insect sperm structure and function. This review updates our present knowled... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591743 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591743 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591742&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18397180%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nilsson GE, Ostlund-Nilsson S Fish cover a large size range, from milligrams to tonnes, and many of them are regularly exposed to large variations in ambient oxygen levels. For more than half a century, there have been various, often divergent, claims regarding the effect of body size on hypoxia tolerance in fish. Here, we attempt to link old and new empirical data with the current understanding of the physiological mechanisms behind hypoxia tolerance. Three main conclusions are drawn: (1) body size per se has little or no impact on the ability to take up oxygen during hypoxic conditions, primarily because the respiratory surface area matches metabolic rate over a wide size range. If size-related differences are seen in the ability for oxygen uptake in a species, these are lik... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591742 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591741&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18410406%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pankewitz F, Hilker M Polyketides are known to be used by insects for pheromone communication and defence against enemies. Although in microorganisms (fungi, bacteria) and plants polyketide biogenesis is known to be catalysed by polyketide synthases (PKS), no insect PKS involved in biosynthesis of pheromones or defensive compounds have yet been found. Polyketides detected in insects may also be biosynthesized by endosymbionts. From a chemical perspective, polyketide biogenesis involves the formation of a polyketide chain using carboxylic acids as precursors. Fatty acid biosynthesis also requires carboxylic acids as precursors, but utilizes fatty acid synthases (FAS) to catalyse this process. In the present review, studies of the biosynthesis of insect polyketides applying labe... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591741 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591741 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591740&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18429764%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Convey P, Gibson JA, Hillenbrand CD, Hodgson DA, Pugh PJ, Smellie JL, Stevens MI Antarctica is a continent locked in ice, with almost 99.7% of current terrain covered by permanent ice and snow, and clear evidence that, as recently as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), ice sheets were both thicker and much more extensive than they are now. Ice sheet modelling of both the LGM and estimated previous ice maxima across the continent give broad support to the concept that most if not all currently ice-free ground would have been overridden during previous glaciations. This has given rise to a widely held perception that all Mesozoic (pre-glacial) terrestrial life of Antarctica was wiped out by successive and deepening glacial events. The implicit conclusion of such destruction is that ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591740 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591739&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18429765%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Tattersall GJ, Ultsch GR In cold-temperate climates, overwintering aquatic ranid frogs must survive prolonged periods of low temperature, often accompanied by low levels of dissolved oxygen. They must do so with the energy stores acquired prior to the onset of winter. Overwintering mortality is a significant factor in their life history, occasionally reaching 100% due to freezing and/or anoxia. Many species of northern ranid frogs overwinter in the tadpole stage, which increases survival during hypoxic episodes relative to adults, as well as allowing for larger sizes at metamorphosis. At temperatures below 5 degrees C, submerged ranid frogs are capable of acquiring adequate oxygen via cutaneous gas exchange over a wide range of ambient oxygen partial pressures (PO(2)), and pos... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591739 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591738&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18429766%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Liu Y In 1868 Charles Darwin proposed Pangenesis, a developmental theory of heredity. He suggested that all cells in an organism are capable of shedding minute particles he called gemmules, which are able to circulate throughout the body and finally congregate in the gonads. These particles are then transmitted to the next generation and are responsible for the transmission of characteristics from parent to offspring. If any cells of the parent undergo changes as a result of environmental change, they will consequently transmit modified gemmules to their offspring. Soon after Darwin's pangenetic theory was published, Francis Galton designed a series of blood transfusion experiments on differently pigmented rabbits to test its validity. He found no evidence in support of the ex... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591738 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591737&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18429767%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Fedina TY, Lewis SM Sexual selection is a major force driving the evolution of diverse reproductive traits. This evolutionary process is based on individual reproductive advantages that arise either through intrasexual competition or through intersexual choice and conflict. While classical studies of sexual selection focused mainly on differences in male mating success, more recent work has focused on the differences in paternity share that may arise through sperm competition or cryptic female choice whenever females mate with multiple males. Thus, an integrative view of sexual selection needs to encompass processes that occur not only before copulation (pre-mating), but also during copulation (peri-mating), as well as after copulation (post-mating), all of which can generate ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591737 Thu, 01 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1591737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591748&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18093233%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Walters DR, McRoberts N, Fitt BD The term green island was first used to describe an area of living, green tissue surrounding a site of infection by an obligately biotrophic fungal pathogen, differentiated from neighbouring yellowing, senescent tissue. However, it has now been used to describe symptoms formed in response to necrotrophic fungal pathogens, virus infection and infestation by certain insects. In leaves infected by obligate biotrophs such as rust and powdery mildew pathogens, green islands are areas where senescence is retarded, photosynthetic activity is maintained and polyamines accumulate. We propose such areas, in which both host and pathogen cells are alive, be termed green bionissia. By contrast, we propose that green areas associated with leaf damage caused ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591748 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1591748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591747&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18093234%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Spence R, Gerlach G, Lawrence C, Smith C The zebrafish Danio rerio, is an important model organism in developmental genetics, neurophysiology and biomedicine, but little is known about its natural ecology and behaviour. It is a small, shoaling cyprinid, native to the flood-plains of the Indian subcontinent, where it is found in shallow, slow-flowing waters. Zebrafish are group spawners and egg scatterers, although females are choosy with respect to sites for oviposition and males defend territories around such sites. Laboratory studies of zebrafish behaviour have encompassed shoaling, foraging, reproduction, sensory perception and learning. These studies are reviewed in relation to the suitability of the zebrafish as a model for studies on cognition and learning, development, ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591747 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1591747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591746&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18093247%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lidicker WZ Viewing the universe as being composed of hierarchically arranged systems is widely accepted as a useful model of reality. In ecology, three levels of organization are generally recognized: organisms, populations, and communities (biocoenoses). For half a century increasing numbers of ecologists have concluded that recognition of a fourth level would facilitate increased understanding of ecological phenomena. Sometimes the word "ecosystem" is used for this level, but this is arguably inappropriate. Since 1986, I and others have argued that the term "landscape" would be a suitable term for a level of organization defined as an ecological system containing more than one community type. However, "landscape" and "landscape level" continue to be used extensively by ecol... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591746 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1591746 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591745&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18211280%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Jagers op Akkerhuis GA A structured approach is discussed for analysing hierarchy in the organization of biological and physical systems. The need for a structured approach follows from the observation that many hierarchies in the literature apply conflicting hierarchy rules and include ill-defined systems. As an alternative, we suggest a framework that is based on the following analytical steps: determination of the succession stage of the universe, identification of a specific system as part of the universe, specification of external influences on a system's creation and analysis of a system's internal organization. At the end, the paper discusses practical implications of the proposed method for the analysis of system organization and hierarchy in biology, ecology and physi... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591745 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1591745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591744&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D18211281%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Cox PG The mammalian orbit, or eye-socket, is a highly plastic region of the skull. It comprises between seven and nine bones, all of which vary widely in their contribution to this region among the different mammalian orders and families. It is hypothesised that the structure of the mammalian orbit is principally influenced by the forces generated by the jaw-closing musculature. In order to quantify the orbit, fourteen linear, angular and area measurements were taken from 84 species of placental mammals using a Microscribe-3D digitiser. The results were then analysed using principal components analysis. The results of the multivariate analysis on untransformed data showed a clear division of the mammalian taxa into temporalis-dominant forms and masseter-dominant forms. This c... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591744 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1591744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591754&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944616%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Newey S, Dahl F, Willebrand T, Thirgood S The regular large-scale population fluctuations that characterize many species of northern vertebrates have fascinated ecologists since the time of Charles Elton. There is still, however, no clear consensus on what drives these fluctuations. Throughout their circumpolar distribution, mountain hares Lepus timidus show regular and at times dramatic changes in density. There are distinct differences in the nature, amplitude and periodicity of these fluctuations between regions and the reasons for these population fluctuations and the geographic differences remain largely unknown. In this review we synthesize knowledge on the factors that limit or regulate mountain hare populations across their range in an attempt to identify the drivers o... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591754 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591754 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591753&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944617%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Levasseur A, Orlando L, Bailly X, Milinkovitch MC, Danchin EG, Pontarotti P To demonstrate that a given change in the environment has contributed to the emergence of a given genotypic and phenotypic shift during the course of evolution, one should ask to what extent such shifts would have occurred without environmental change. Of course, such tests are rarely practical but phenotypic novelties can still be correlated to genomic shifts in response to environmental changes if enough information is available. We surveyed and re-evaluated the published data in order to estimate the role of environmental changes on the course of species and genomic evolution. Only a few published examples clearly demonstrate a causal link between a given environmental change and the fixation of a g... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591753 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591752&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944618%26dopt%3DAbstract Discussion of successional change has traditionally focused on plants. The role of animals in producing and responding to successional change has received far less attention. Dispersal of plant propagules by animals is a fundamental part of successional change in the tropics. Here we review the role played by frugivorous bats in successional change in tropical forests. We explore the similarities and differences of this ecological service provided by New and Old World seed-dispersing bats and conclude with a discussion of their current economic and conservation implications. Our review suggests that frugivorous New World phyllostomid bats play a more important role in early plant succession than their Old World pteropodid counterparts. We propose that phyllostomid bats have shared a long e... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591752 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591751&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944619%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Nakagawa S, Cuthill IC Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) is the dominant statistical approach in biology, although it has many, frequently unappreciated, problems. Most importantly, NHST does not provide us with two crucial pieces of information: (1) the magnitude of an effect of interest, and (2) the precision of the estimate of the magnitude of that effect. All biologists should be ultimately interested in biological importance, which may be assessed using the magnitude of an effect, but not its statistical significance. Therefore, we advocate presentation of measures of the magnitude of effects (i.e. effect size statistics) and their confidence intervals (CIs) in all biological journals. Combined use of an effect size and its CIs enables one to assess the relation... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591751 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591751 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591750&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944620%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Luck GW To explore the impacts of increasing human numbers on nature, many studies have examined relationships between human population density (HPD) and biodiversity change. The implicit assumption in many of these studies is that as population density increases so does the threat to biodiversity. The implications of this assumption are compounded by recent research showing that species richness for many taxonomic groups is often highest in areas with high HPD. If increasing HPD is a threat to conservation, this threat may be magnified owing to the spatial congruence between people and species richness. Here, I review the relationships between HPD and measures of biodiversity status focussing in particular on evidence for the spatial congruence between people and species rich... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591750 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591750 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591749&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17944621%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Huber BA, Sinclair BJ, Schmitt M Asymmetries are a pervading phenomenon in otherwise bilaterally symmetric organisms and recent studies have highlighted their potential impact on our understanding of fundamental evolutionary processes like the evolution of development and the selection for morphological novelties caused by behavioural changes. One character system that is particularly promising in this respect is animal genitalia because (1) asymmetries in genitalia have evolved many times convergently, and (2) the taxonomic literature provides a tremendous amount of comparative data on these organs. This review is an attempt to focus attention on this promising but neglected topic by summarizing what we know about insect genital asymmetries, and by contrasting this with the s... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591749 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591762&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624958%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hutchinson JM, Waser PM Biologists have repeatedly rediscovered classical models from physics predicting collision rates in an ideal gas. These models, and their two-dimensional analogues, have been used to predict rates and durations of encounters among animals or social groups that move randomly and independently, given population density, velocity, and distance at which an encounter occurs. They have helped to separate cases of mixed-species association based on behavioural attraction from those that simply reflect high population densities, and to detect cases of attraction or avoidance among conspecifics. They have been used to estimate the impact of population density, speeds of movement and size on rates of encounter between members of the opposite sex, between gametes,... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591762 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591761&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624959%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Peters RC, Eeuwes LB, Bretschneider F Reinterpretation of research on the electric sense in aquatic organisms with ampullary organs results in the following conclusions. The detection limit of limnic vertebrates with ampullary organs is 1 microV cm(-1), and of marine fish is 20 nV cm(-1). Angular movements are essential for stimulation of the ampullary system in uniform d.c. fields. Angular movements in the geomagnetic field also generate induction voltages, which exceed the 20 nV cm(-1) limit in marine fish. As a result, marine electrosensitive fish are sensitive to motion in the geomagnetic field, whereas limnic fish are not. Angular swimming movements generate a.c. stimuli, which act like the noise in a stochastic resonance system, and result in a detection threshold in mar... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591761 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591761 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591760&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624960%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Springer MS, Murphy WJ Recent progress resolving the phylogenetic relationships of the major lineages of mammals has had a broad impact in evolutionary biology, comparative genomics and the biomedical sciences. Novel insights into the timing and historical biogeography of early mammalian diversification have resulted from a new molecular tree for placental mammals coupled with dating approaches that relax the assumption of the molecular clock. We highlight the numerous applications to come from a well-resolved phylogeny and genomic prospecting in multiple lineages of mammals, from identifying regulatory elements in mammalian genomes to assessing the functional consequences of mutations in human disease loci and those driving adaptive evolution. PMID: 17624960 [PubMed - ind... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591760 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591759&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624961%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Orians GH, Milewski AV Australia, the flattest, driest, and geologically oldest vegetated continent, has a uniquely high proportion of nutrient-poor soils. We develop a "Nutrient-Poverty/Intense-Fire Theory," which postulates that most anomalous features of organisms and ecosystems of Australia are the evolutionary consequences of adaptations to nutrient poverty, compounded by intense fire that tends to occur as a result of nutrient poverty. The fundamental tenet of the theory is that plants growing in environments with plentiful light and periodic adequate moisture, but on soils poor in phosphorus, zinc, and other indispensible nutrients, can synthesize carbohydrates in excess of the amount that can be combined with, or catalyzed by, these nutrients for metabolism and product... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591759 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591758&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624962%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Mayhew PJ Over half of all described species are insects, but until recently our understanding of the reasons for this diversity was based on very little macroevolutionary evidence. Here I summarize the hypotheses that have been posed, tests of these hypotheses and their results, and hence identify gaps in knowledge for future researchers to pursue. I focus on inferences from the following sources: (i) the fossil record, normally at family level, and (ii) insect phylogenies, sometimes combined with: (iii) the species richness of insect higher taxa, and (iv) current extinction risks. There is evidence that the species richness of insects has been enhanced by: (i) their relative age, giving time for diversification to take place; (ii) low extinction rates. There is little eviden... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591758 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591758 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591757&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624963%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Zarzo M Most animal species rely on odorant compounds to locate food, predators, or toxins. The sense of smell is also involved in animal communication, and revealing the underlying mechanisms will therefore facilitate a deeper understanding of animal behaviour. Since the 1940s different theories have speculated on the fundamental basis of olfaction. It was assumed that odorant molecules were recognized by selective protein receptors in the nose, triggering a nervous signal processed by the brain. The discovery of these receptors in the early 1990s allowed great progress in understanding the physiological and biochemical principles of olfaction. An overview of the different mechanisms involved in the coding of odour character as well as odour intensity is presented here, focus... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591757 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591757 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591756&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624964%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Fleming PA, Muller D, Bateman PW Autotomy is defined herein as the shedding of a body part, where (1) the loss of the body part is defensive (autotomy helps prevent the whole animal from being compromised and is in response to external stimuli); (2) shearing occurs by an intrinsic mechanism along a breakage plane (there has been selection for certain body parts to be pulled off easily); and (3) the loss is controlled - the animal moves away from the trapped limb, the loss is under some form of central control (neural or hormonal), or the body part is detached quickly. Autotomy (under this defensive definition) has evolved independently for a diverse array of body parts in many taxa; we have summarised available information for over 200 invertebrate species. The advantages of a... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591756 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591755&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17624965%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Beauchamp G I examined the role of vision in social foraging by contrasting group size, vigilance, spacing, aggression and habitat use between day and night in many species of birds and mammals. The literature review revealed that the rate of predation/disturbance was often reduced at night while food was considered more available. Social foraging at night was prevalent in many species suggesting that low light levels at night are not sufficient to prevent the formation and cohesion of animal groups. Group sizes were similar or larger at night than during the day in more than half the bird populations and in the majority of mammal populations. Factors such as calls, feeding noises or smells may contribute to the formation and cohesion of groups at night. Larger numbers of fora... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591755 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591769&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437557%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Garcia de Leaniz C, Fleming IA, Einum S, Verspoor E, Jordan WC, Consuegra S, Aubin-Horth N, Lajus D, Letcher BH, Youngson AF, Webb JH, Vøllestad LA, Villanueva B, Ferguson A, Quinn TP Here we critically review the scale and extent of adaptive genetic variation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), an important model system in evolutionary and conservation biology that provides fundamental insights into population persistence, adaptive response and the effects of anthropogenic change. We consider the process of adaptation as the end product of natural selection, one that can best be viewed as the degree of matching between phenotype and environment. We recognise three potential sources of adaptive variation: heritable variation in phenotypic traits related to fitness, varia... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591769 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591768&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437558%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Robertson SJ, McGill WB, Massicotte HB, Rutherford PM The importance of developing multi-disciplinary approaches to solving problems relating to anthropogenic pollution is now clearly appreciated by the scientific community, and this is especially evident in boreal ecosystems exposed to escalating threats of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contamination through expanded natural resource extraction activities. This review aims to synthesize information regarding the fate and behaviour of PHCs in boreal forest soils in both ecological and sustainable management contexts. From this, we hope to evaluate potential management strategies, identify gaps in knowledge and guide future research. Our central premise is that mycorrhizal systems, the ubiquitous root symbiotic fungi and associat... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591768 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591767&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437559%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Arendt J Body size is important to most aspects of biology and is also one of the most labile traits. Despite its importance we know remarkably little about the proximate (developmental) factors that determine body size under different circumstances. Here, I review what is known about how cell size and number contribute to phenetic and genetic variation in body size in Drosophila melanogaster, several fish, and fruits and leaves of some angiosperms. Variation in resources influences size primarily through changes in cell number while temperature acts through cell size. The difference in cellular mechanism may also explain the differences in growth trajectories resulting from food and temperature manipulations. There is, however, a poorly recognized interaction between food and... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591767 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591767 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591766&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437560%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pascual S, González AF, Guerra A We here investigate the relationship between oceanographic processes and variability in parasite recruitment to host populations using existing data from host-parasite systems encountering differing hydrographic conditions. Combined epidemiological data obtained from both exploited fish and cephalopod populations indicate that variability in recruitment of parasite infracommunities tends to be associated with major current systems of the World's oceans. It appears that instability in water masses caused by physical perturbations (e.g. water mass convergence and turbulent mixing in upwelling systems) is associated with instability of trophic interactions over time, which in turn leads to a paucity of parasite communities in that area. The l... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591766 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591766 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591765&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437561%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Johansson BG, Jones TM Chemical signals are omnipresent in sexual communication in the vast majority of living organisms. The traditional paradigm was that their main purpose in sexual behaviour was to coordinate mate and species recognition and thus pheromones were conserved in structure and function. In recent years, this view has been challenged by theoretical analyses on the evolution of pheromones and empirical reports of mate choice based on chemical signals. The ability to measure precisely the quantity and quality of chemicals emitted by single individuals has also revealed considerable individual variation in chemical composition and release rates, and there is mounting evidence that prospecting mates respond to this variation. Here, we review the evidence for pheromo... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591765 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591764&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437562%26dopt%3DAbstract We present extensive literature reviews that demonstrate that temperament traits are heritable, and linked to fitness and to several other traits of importance to ecology and evolution. Furthermore, we describe ecologically relevant measurement methods and point to several ecological and evolutionary topics that would benefit from considering temperament, such as phenotypic plasticity, conservation biology, population sampling, and invasion biology. PMID: 17437562 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] (Source: Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society) Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591764 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591763&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17437563%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Widdig A One of the most important assumptions of kin selection theory is that individuals behave differently towards kin than non-kin. In mammals, there is strong evidence that maternal kin are distinguished from non-kin via familiarity. However, little is known about whether or not mammals can also recognize paternal kin as many female mammals, including primates, mate with multiple males near the time of conception, potentially concealing paternal kinship. Genetic data in several mammalian species with a promiscuous mating system and male-biased dispersal reveal a high skew in male reproduction which leads to co-residing paternal half-siblings. In most primates, individuals also form stable bisexual groups creating opportunities for males to interact with their offspring. H... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591763 Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1591763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591775&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313522%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Handrigan GR, Wassersug RJ Anurans (frogs, toads, and their larvae) are among the most morphologically derived of vertebrates. While tightly conserved across the order, the anuran Bauplan (body plan) diverges widely from that of other vertebrates, particularly with respect to the skeleton. Here we address the adaptive, ontogenetic, and genetic bases of three such hallmark anuran features: (1) the absence of discrete caudal vertebrae, (2) a truncated axial skeleton, and (3) elongate hind limbs. We review the functional significance of each as it relates to the anuran lifestyle, which includes locomotor adaptations to both aquatic and terrestrial environments. We then shift our focus to the proximal origins of each feature, namely, ontogeny and its molecular regulation. Drawing ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591775 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591775 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591774&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313523%26dopt%3DAbstract Conclusions drawn from such studies are broadly applicable to a range of taxa, but rely on accurate understanding of spider sexual interactions. Extensive behavioural experimentation demonstrates the presence of sex pheromones in many spider species, and recent major advances in the identification of spider sex pheromones merit review. Synthesised here are the emission, transmission, structures, and functions of spider sex pheromones, with emphasis on the crucial and dynamic role of sex pheromones in female and male mating strategies generally. Techniques for behavioural, chemical and electrophysiological study are summarised, and I aim to provide guidelines for incorporating sex pheromones into future studies of spider mating. In the spiders, pheromones are generally emitted by females an... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591774 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591774 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591773&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313524%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Davit-Béal T, Chisaka H, Delgado S, Sire JY Elucidation of the mechanisms controlling early development and organogenesis is currently progressing in several model species and a new field of research, evolutionary developmental biology, which integrates developmental and comparative approaches, has emerged. Although the expression pattern of many genes during tooth development in mammals is known, data on other lineages are virtually non-existent. Comparison of tooth development, and particularly of gene expression (and function) during tooth morphogenesis and differentiation, in representative species of various vertebrate lineages is a prerequisite to understand what makes one tooth different from another. Amphibians appear to be good candidates for such research for se... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591773 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591773 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591772&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313525%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hansen DM, Olesen JM, Mione T, Johnson SD, Müller CB While coloured nectar has been known to science at least since 1785, it has only recently received focused scientific attention. However, information about this rare floral trait is scattered and hard to find. Here, we document coloured nectar in 67 taxa worldwide, with a wide taxonomical and geographical distribution. We summarise what is currently known about coloured nectar in each of the lineages where it occurs. The most common nectar colours are in the spectrum from yellow to red, but also brown, black, green, and blue colours are found. Colour intensity of the nectar varies, sometimes even within one taxa, as does the level of contrast between flower petals and nectar. Coloured nectar has evolved independently th... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591772 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591772 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591771&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313526%26dopt%3DAbstract We present an alternative explanation for what became known as the down-regulation of maintenance at high growth rates in microorganisms; the density of the limiting reserve increases with the growth rate, and reserves do not require maintenance while structure-specific maintenance costs are independent of the growth rate. This is also the mechanism behind the variation of the respiration rate with body size among species. The DEB theory specifies reserve dynamics on the basis of the requirements of weak homeostasis and partitionability. We here present a new and simple mechanism for this dynamics which accounts for the rejection of mobilised reserve by busy maintenance/growth machinery. This module, like quite a few other modules of DEB theory, uses the theory of Synthesising Units; we re... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591771 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591770&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17313527%26dopt%3DAbstract This article argues that the thrifty phenotype is the consequence of three different adaptive processes - niche construction, maternal effects, and developmental plasticity - all of which in humans are influenced by our large brains. While developmental plasticity represents an adaptation by the offspring, both niche construction and parental effects are subject to selection on parental rather than offspring fitness. The three processes also operate at different paces. Human offspring do not become net calories-producers until around 18 years of age, such that the high energy costs of the human brain are paid primarily by the mother, even after weaning. The evolutionary expansion of human brain volume occurred in environments characterised by high volatility, inducing strong selective pres... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591770 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1591770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591783&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16848916%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Smith JM, Bradley DP, James MF, Huang CL Cortical spreading depression (CSD) produces propagating waves of transient neuronal hyperexcitability followed by depression. CSD is initiated by K+ release following neuronal firing or electrical, mechanical or chemical stimuli. A triphasic (30-50 s) cortical potential transient accompanies localized transmembrane redistributions of K+, glutamate, Ca2+, Na+, Cl- and H+. Accumulated K+ in the restricted interstitial space can cause both further neuronal depolarisation and inward movement of K+ into astrocytes that buffers this increased extracellular K+ concentration ([K+])o. However, astrocyte interconnections may then propagate the CSD wave by K+ liberation through an opening of remote K+ channels by volume, Ca2+ or N-methyl-D-aspart... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591783 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591782&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16863594%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Goss-Custard JD, West AD, Yates MG, Caldow RW, Stillman RA, Bardsley L, Castilla J, Castro M, Dierschke V, Durell SE, Eichhorn G, Ens BJ, Exo KM, Udayangani-Fernando PU, Ferns PN, Hockey PA, Gill JA, Johnstone I, Kalejta-Summers B, Masero JA, Moreira F, Nagarajan RV, Owens IP, Pacheco C, Perez-Hurtado A, Rogers D, Scheiffarth G, Sitters H, Sutherland WJ, Triplet P, Worrall DH, Zharikov Y, Zwarts L, Pettifor RA As field determinations take much effort, it would be useful to be able to predict easily the coefficients describing the functional response of free-living predators, the function relating food intake rate to the abundance of food organisms in the environment. As a means easily to parameterise an individual-based model of shorebird Charadriiformes populations, we attemp... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591782 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591782 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591781&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16893475%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Schmidt AL, Anderson LM There is no logical or theoretical barrier to the proposition that organismal and cell signaling could transduce environmental signals into specific, beneficial changes in primary structure of noncoding DNA via repetitive element movement or mutation. Repetitive DNA elements, including transposons and microsatellites, are known to influence the structure and expression of protein-coding genes, and to be responsive to environmental signals in some cases. These effects may create fodder for adaptive evolution, at rates exceeding those observed for point mutations. In many cases, the changes are no doubt random, and fitness is increased through simple natural selection. However, some transposons insert at specific sites, and certain regions of the genome e... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591781 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591780&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16893476%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lindow BE, Dyke GJ The pattern of the evolutionary radiation of modern birds (Neornithes) has been debated for more than 10 years. However, the early fossil record of birds from the Paleogene, in particular, the Lower Eocene, has only recently begun to be used in a phylogenetic context to address the dynamics of this major vertebrate radiation. The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-P) extinction event dominates our understanding of early modern bird evolution, but climate change throughout the Eocene is known to have also played a major role. The Paleocene and Lower Eocene was a time of avian diversification as a result of favourable global climatic conditions. Deteriorations in climate beginning in the Middle Eocene appear to be responsible for the demise of previously widespread avian... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591780 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591779&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16987430%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hill SL, Murphy EJ, Reid K, Trathan PN, Constable AJ The ecosystem approach to fisheries recognises the interdependence between harvested species and other ecosystem components. It aims to account for the propagation of the effects of harvesting through the food-web. The formulation and evaluation of ecosystem-based management strategies requires reliable models of ecosystem dynamics to predict these effects. The krill-based system in the Southern Ocean was the focus of some of the earliest models exploring such effects. It is also a suitable example for the development of models to support the ecosystem approach to fisheries because it has a relatively simple food-web structure and progress has been made in developing models of the key species and interactions, some of which ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591779 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591779 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591778&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16995957%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Budd GE Although the mathematical principles underpinning population-level evolution are now well studied, the origin and evolution of morphological novelties has received far less attention. Here, a broad but general theory for how this sort of change takes place is outlined, relying on functional continuity, least-constrained components of morphology, redundancy and preadaptation. At least four distinct sorts of redundancy are identified: (i) redundancy arising through duplication (amplification); (ii) redundancy arising through regionalisation (parcellation); (iii) redundancy arising through functional convergence; and (iv) redundancy arising from shared function (functional degeneracy). Although organisms are here recognised to be functionally constrained ("burdened", in R... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591778 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591777&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17038201%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Maina JN Among the air-breathing vertebrates, the avian respiratory apparatus, the lung-air sac system, is the most structurally complex and functionally efficient. After intricate morphogenesis, elaborate pulmonary vascular and airway (bronchial) architectures are formed. The crosscurrent, countercurrent, and multicapillary serial arterialization systems represent outstanding operational designs. The arrangement between the conduits of air and blood allows the respiratory media to be transported optimally in adequate measures and rates and to be exposed to each other over an extensive respiratory surface while separated by an extremely thin blood-gas barrier. As a consequence, the diffusing capacity (conductance) of the avian lung for oxygen is remarkably efficient. The forem... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591777 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591776&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D17038202%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Sockman KW, Sharp PJ, Schwabl H How much effort to expend in any one bout of reproduction is among the most important decisions made by an individual that breeds more than once. According to life-history theory, reproduction is costly, and individuals that invest too much in a given reproductive bout pay with reduced reproductive output in the future. Likewise, investing too little does not maximize reproductive potential. Because reproductive effort relative to output can vary with predictable and unpredictable challenges and opportunities, no single level of reproductive effort maximizes fitness. This leads to the prediction that individuals possessing behavioural mechanisms to buffer challenges and take advantage of opportunities would incur fitness benefits. Here, we revie... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591776 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591791&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16672105%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Pearce-Duvet JM Many significant diseases of human civilization are thought to have arisen concurrently with the advent of agriculture in human society. It has been hypothesised that the food produced by farming increased population sizes to allow the maintenance of virulent pathogens, i.e. civilization pathogens, while domestic animals provided sources of disease to humans. To determine the relationship between pathogens in humans and domestic animals, I examined phylogenetic data for several human pathogens that are commonly evolutionarily linked to domestic animals: measles, pertussis, smallpox, tuberculosis, taenid worms, and falciparal malaria. The majority are civilization pathogens, although I have included others whose evolutionary origins have traditionally been ascri... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591791 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591787&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16700968%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ultsch GR Turtles are a small taxon that has nevertheless attracted much attention from biologists for centuries. However, a major portion of their life cycle has received relatively little attention until recently - namely what turtles are doing, and how they are doing it, during the winter. In the northern parts of their ranges in North America, turtles may spend more than half of their lives in an overwintering state. In this review, I emphasise the ecological aspects of overwintering among turtles, and consider how overwintering stresses affect the physiology, behaviour, distributions, and life histories of various species.Sea turtles are the only group of turtles that migrate extensively, and can therefore avoid northern winters. Nevertheless, each year a number of turtle... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591787 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591787 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591786&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16740199%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kilner RM Avian eggs differ so much in their colour and patterning from species to species that any attempt to account for this diversity might initially seem doomed to failure. Here I present a critical review of the literature which, when combined with the results of some comparative analyses, suggests that just a few selective agents can explain much of the variation in egg appearance. Ancestrally, bird eggs were probably white and immaculate. Ancient diversification in nest location, and hence in the clutch's vulnerability to attack by predators, can explain basic differences between bird families in egg appearance. The ancestral white egg has been retained by species whose nests are safe from attack by predators, while those that have moved to a more vulnerable nest site ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591786 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591785&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16762098%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Crespi BJ, Summers K We hypothesize that forms of antagonistic coevolution have forged strong links between positive selection at the molecular level and increased cancer risk. By this hypothesis, evolutionary conflict between males and females, mothers and foetuses, hosts and parasites, and other parties with divergent fitness interests has led to rapid evolution of genetic systems involved in control over fertilization and cellular resources. The genes involved in such systems promote cancer risk as a secondary effect of their roles in antagonistic coevolution, which generates evolutionary disequilibrium and maladaptation. Evidence from two sources: (1) studies on specific genes, including SPANX cancer/testis antigen genes, several Y-linked genes, the pem homebox gene, centr... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591785 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591785 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591784&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16790079%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Vickaryous MK, Hall BK Metazoans are composed of a finite number of recognisable cell types. Similar to the relationship between species and ecosystems, knowledge of cell type diversity contributes to studies of complexity and evolution. However, as with other units of evolution, the cell type often resists definition. This review proposes guidelines for characterising cell types and discusses cell homology and the various developmental pathways by which cell types arise, including germ layers, blastemata (secondary development/neurulation), stem cells, and transdifferentiation. An updated list of cell types is presented for a familiar, albeit overlooked model taxon, adult Homo sapiens, with 411 cell types, including 145 types of neurons, recognised. Two methods for organising... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591784 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591784 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591798&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16336747%26dopt%3DAbstract This article explores the special features of freshwater habitats and the biodiversity they support that makes them especially vulnerable to human activities. We document threats to global freshwater biodiversity under five headings: overexploitation; water pollution; flow modification; destruction or degradation of habitat; and invasion by exotic species. Their combined and interacting influences have resulted in population declines and range reduction of freshwater biodiversity worldwide. Conservation of biodiversity is complicated by the landscape position of rivers and wetlands as 'receivers' of land-use effluents, and the problems posed by endemism and thus non-substitutability. In addition, in many parts of the world, fresh water is subject to severe competition among multiple human ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591798 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591794&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16522227%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Lagerspetz KY, Vainio LA Specific thermoreceptors or putative multimodal thermoreceptors are not known in Crustacea. However, behavioural studies on thermal avoidance and preference and on the effects of temperature on motor activity indicate that the thermosensitivity of crustaceans may be in the range 0.2-2 degrees C. Work on planktonic crustaceans suggests that they respond particularly to changes in temperature by klinokinesis and orthokinesis. The thermal behaviour of crustaceans is modified by thermal acclimation among other factors. The acclimation of the critical maximum temperature is an example of resistance acclimation, while the acclimation of preference behaviour may be classified as capacity acclimation of some other function. In crustaceans, the use of the conce... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591794 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591793&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16573844%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Warton DI, Wright IJ, Falster DS, Westoby M Fitting a line to a bivariate dataset can be a deceptively complex problem, and there has been much debate on this issue in the literature. In this review, we describe for the practitioner the essential features of line-fitting methods for estimating the relationship between two variables: what methods are commonly used, which method should be used when, and how to make inferences from these lines to answer common research questions. A particularly important point for line-fitting in allometry is that usually, two sources of error are present (which we call measurement and equation error), and these have quite different implications for choice of line-fitting method. As a consequence, the approach in this review and the methods prese... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591793 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591793 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591792&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16573845%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Manger PR This review examines aspects of cetacean brain structure related to behaviour and evolution. Major considerations include cetacean brain-body allometry, structure of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampal formation, specialisations of the cetacean brain related to vocalisations and sleep phenomenology, paleoneurology, and brain-body allometry during cetacean evolution. These data are assimilated to demonstrate that there is no neural basis for the often-asserted high intellectual abilities of cetaceans. Despite this, the cetaceans do have volumetrically large brains. A novel hypothesis regarding the evolution of large brain size in cetaceans is put forward. It is shown that a combination of an unusually high number of glial cells and unihemispheric sleep phenomenology ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591792 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591792 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591790&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16677431%26dopt%3DAbstract This article considers the proximate causes, ontogeny, fitness value and evolutionary history of human fat deposition. Proximate causes include diet composition, physical activity level, feeding behaviour, endocrine and genetic factors, psychological traits, and exposure to broader environmental factors. Fat deposition peaks during late gestation and early infancy, and again during adolescence in females. As in other species, human fat stores not only buffer malnutrition, but also regulate reproduction and immune function, and are subject to sexual selection. Nevertheless, our characteristic ontogenetic pattern of fat deposition, along with relatively high fatness in adulthood, contrasts with the phenotype of other mammals occupying the tropical savannah environment in which hominids evolv... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591790 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591789&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16677432%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Uller T Vertebrate sex ratios are notorious for their lack of fit to theoretical models, both with respect to the direction and the magnitude of the sex ratio adjustment. The reasons for this are likely to be linked to simplifying assumptions regarding vertebrate life histories. More specifically, if the sex ratio adjustment itself influences offspring fitness, due to sex-specific interactions among offspring, this could affect optimal sex ratios. A review of the literature suggests that sex-specific sibling interactions in vertebrates result from three major causes: (i) sex asymmetries in competitive ability, for example due to sexual dimorphism, (ii) sex-specific cooperation or helping, and (iii) sex asymmetries in non-competitive interactions, for example steroid leakage be... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591789 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591788&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16677433%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Jersáková J, Johnson SD, Kindlmann P The orchid family is renowned for its enormous diversity of pollination mechanisms and unusually high occurrence of non-rewarding flowers compared to other plant families. The mechanisms of deception in orchids include generalized food deception, food-deceptive floral mimicry, brood-site imitation, shelter imitation, pseudoantagonism, rendezvous attraction and sexual deception. Generalized food deception is the most common mechanism (reported in 38 genera) followed by sexual deception (18 genera). Floral deception in orchids has been intensively studied since Darwin, but the evolution of non-rewarding flowers still presents a major puzzle for evolutionary biology. The two principal hypotheses as to how deception could increase fit... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591788 Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 +0100 1591788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591802&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16271158%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Waterman TH Substantial in situ measurements on clear days in a variety of marine environments at depths in the water down to 200 m have demonstrated the ubiquitous daytime presence of sun-related e-vector (=plane of polarization) patterns. In most lines of sight the e-vectors tilt from horizontal towards the sun at angles equal to the apparent underwater refracted zenith angle of the sun. A maximum tilt-angle of approximately 48.5 degrees , is reached in horizontal lines of sight at 90 degrees to the sun's bearing (the plane of incidence). This tilt limit is set by Snell's window, when the sun is on the horizon. The biological literature since the 1980s has been pervaded with assumptions that daytime aquatic e-vectors are mainly horizontal. This review attempts to set the rec... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591802 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591802 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591801&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16293196%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Peck LS, Convey P, Barnes DK Knowledge of Antarctic biotas and environments has increased dramatically in recent years. There has also been a rapid increase in the use of novel technologies. Despite this, some fundamental aspects of environmental control that structure physiological, ecological and life-history traits in Antarctic organisms have received little attention. Possibly the most important of these is the timing and availability of resources, and the way in which this dictates the tempo or pace of life. The clearest view of this effect comes from comparisons of species living in different habitats. Here, we (i) show that the timing and extent of resource availability, from nutrients to colonisable space, differ across Antarctic marine, intertidal and terrestrial habi... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591801 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591801 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591800&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16318651%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Ewers RM, Didham RK Habitat loss has pervasive and disruptive impacts on biodiversity in habitat remnants. The magnitude of the ecological impacts of habitat loss can be exacerbated by the spatial arrangement -- or fragmentation -- of remaining habitat. Fragmentation per se is a landscape-level phenomenon in which species that survive in habitat remnants are confronted with a modified environment of reduced area, increased isolation and novel ecological boundaries. The implications of this for individual organisms are many and varied, because species with differing life history strategies are differentially affected by habitat fragmentation. Here, we review the extensive literature on species responses to habitat fragmentation, and detail the numerous ways in which confounding... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591800 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591799&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16336746%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Brodsky VY Recent data concerning ultradian (circahoralian) intracellular rhythms are used to assess the biochemical mechanisms of direct cell-cell communication. New results and theoretical considerations suggest a fractal nature of ultradian rhythms and their self-organisation. The fundamental and innate nature of these rhythms relates to their self-similarity at different levels of cell and tissue organisation. They can be detected in cell-free systems as well as in cells and organs in vivo. Such rhythms are a means of finding an optimal state of cell function rather than achieving a state of absolute stability. As a consequence, oscillations, being irregular and numerous by the set of periods, are resilient to functional overload and injury. Recent data on the maintenance ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591799 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591797&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16451740%26dopt%3DAbstract This article considers the proximate causes, ontogeny, fitness value and evolutionary history of human fat deposition. Proximate causes include diet composition, physical activity level, feeding behaviour, endocrine and genetic factors, psychological traits, and exposure to broader environmental factors. Fat deposition peaks during late gestation and early infancy, and again during adolescence in females. As in other species, human fat stores not only buffer malnutrition, but also regulate reproduction and immune function, and are subject to sexual selection. Nevertheless, our characteristic ontogenetic pattern of fat deposition, along with relatively high fatness in adulthood, contrasts with the phenotype of other mammals occupying the tropical savannah environment in which hominids evolv... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591797 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591797 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591796&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16460580%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Sayer EJ The widespread use of forest litter as animal bedding in central Europe for many centuries gave rise to the first litter manipulation studies, and their results demonstrated that litter and its decomposition are a vital part of ecosystem function. Litter plays two major roles in forest ecosystems: firstly, litterfall is an inherent part of nutrient and carbon cycling, and secondly, litter forms a protective layer on the soil surface that also regulates microclimatic conditions. By reviewing 152 years of litter manipulation experiments, I show that the effects of manipulating litter stem from changes in one, or both, of these two functions, and interactions between the variables influenced by the accumulation of litter can result in feedback mechanisms that may intensi... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591796 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591796 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591795&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16460581%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Hsu Y, Earley RL, Wolf LL Experience in aggressive contests often affects behaviour during, and the outcome of, later contests. This review discusses evidence for, variations in, and consequences of such effects. Generally, prior winning experiences increase, and prior losing experiences decrease, the probability of winning in later contests, reflecting modifications of expected fighting ability. We examine differences in the methodologies used to study experience effects, and the relative importance and persistence of winning and losing experiences within and across taxa. We review the voluminous, but somewhat disconnected, literature on the neuroendocrine mechanisms that mediate experience effects. Most studies focus on only one of a number of possible mechanisms without pro... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591795 Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 +0100 1591795 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591809&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221327%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Mayr G The Paleogene (Paleocene-Oligocene) fossil record of birds in Europe is reviewed and recent and fossil taxa are placed into a phylogenetic framework, based on published cladistic analyses. The pre-Oligocene European avifauna is characterized by the complete absence of passeriform birds, which today are the most diverse and abundant avian taxon. Representatives of small non-passeriform perching birds thus probably had similar ecological niches before the Oligocene to those filled by modern passerines. The occurrence of passerines towards the Lower Oligocene appears to have had a major impact on these birds, and the surviving crown-group members of many small arboreal Eocene taxa show highly specialized feeding strategies not found or rare in passeriform birds. It is deta... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591809 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591809 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591808&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221328%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Kerr AM The supertree algorithm matrix representation with parsimony was used to combine existing hypotheses of coral relationships and provide the most comprehensive species-level estimate of scleractinian phylogeny, comprised of 353 species (27% of extant species), 141 genera (63%) and 23 families (92%) from all seven suborders. The resulting supertree offers a guide for future studies in coral systematics by highlighting regions of concordance and conflict in existing source phylogenies. It should also prove useful in formal comparative studies of character evolution. Phylogenetic effort within Scleractinia has been taxonomically uneven, with a third of studies focussing on the Acroporidae or its most diverse genera. Sampling has also been geographically non-uniform, as tro... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591808 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591807&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221329%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Wong BB, Candolin U The plethora of studies devoted to the topics of male competition and female mate choice belie the fact that their interaction remains poorly understood. Indeed, on the question of whether competition should help or hinder the choice process, opinions scattered throughout the sexual selection literature seem unnecessarily polarised. We argue, in the light of recent theoretical and empirical advances, that the effect of competition on mate choice depends on whether it results in the choosy sex attaining high breeding value for total fitness, considering both direct and indirect fitness benefits. Specifically, trade-offs may occur between different fitness benefits if some are correlated with male competitive ability whilst others are not. Moreover, the costs... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591807 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591806&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221330%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Stevens M Eyespots are found in a variety of animals, in particular lepidopterans. The role of eyespots as antipredator mechanisms has been discussed since the 19th Century, with two main hypotheses invoked to explain their occurrence. The first is that large, centrally located eyespots intimidate predators by resembling the eyes of the predators' own enemies; the second, though not necessarily conflicting, hypothesis is that small, peripherally located eyespots function as markers to deflect the attacks of predators to non-vital regions of the body. A third possibility is also proposed; that eyespots intimidate predators merely because they are novel or rarely encountered salient features. These hypotheses are reviewed, with special reference given to avian predators, since t... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591806 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591806 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591805&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221331%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Parsons PA Evolutionary change is interpreted in terms of the near-universal ecological scenario of stressful environments. Consequently, there is a premium on the energetically efficient exploitation of resources in a resource-inadequate world. Under this environmental model, fitness can be approximated to energetic efficiency especially towards the limits of survival. Furthermore, fitness at one stage of the life-cycle should correlate with fitness at other stages, especially for development time, survival and longevity; 'good genotypes' under stress should therefore be at a premium. Conservation in the wild depends primarily on adaptation to abiotically changing habitats since towards the limits of survival, genomic variation is rarely restrictive. The balance between energ... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591805 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591804&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221332%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Glazier DS In this review I show that the '3/4-power scaling law' of metabolic rate is not universal, either within or among animal species. Significant variation in the scaling of metabolic rate with body mass is described mainly for animals, but also for unicells and plants. Much of this variation, which can be related to taxonomic, physiological, and/or environmental differences, is not adequately explained by existing theoretical models, which are also reviewed. As a result, synthetic explanatory schemes based on multiple boundary constraints and on the scaling of multiple energy-using processes are advocated. It is also stressed that a complete understanding of metabolic scaling will require the identification of both proximate (functional) and ultimate (evolutionary) cau... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591804 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591803&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16221333%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Denoël M, Joly P, Whiteman HH Facultative paedomorphosis is an environmentally induced polymorphism that results in the coexistence of mature, gilled, and fully aquatic paedomorphic adults and transformed, terrestrial, metamorphic adults in the same population. This polymorphism has been of interest to scientists for decades because it occurs in a large number of caudate amphibian taxa as well as in a large diversity of habitats. Numerous experimental and observational studies have been conducted to explain the proximate and ultimate factors affecting these heterochronic variants in natural populations. The production of each alternative phenotype is based on a genotypexenvironment interaction and research suggests that differences in the environment can produce paedomorp... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591803 Tue, 01 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0100 1591803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591817&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16094803%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Whitehousel ME, Lubin Y Many models have been advanced to suggest how different expressions of sociality have evolved and are maintained. However these models ignore the function of groups for the particular species in question. Here we present a new perspective on sociality where the function of the group takes a central role. We argue that sociality may have primarily a reproductive, protective, or foraging function, depending on whether it enhances the reproductive, protective or foraging aspect of the animal's life (sociality may serve a mixture of these functions). Different functions can potentially cause the development of the same social behaviour. By identifying which function influences a particular social behaviour we can determine how that social behaviour will cha... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591817 Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:00:00 +0100 1591817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591816&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16094804%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Huber BA The renaissance of interest in sexual selection during the last decades has fuelled an extraordinary increase of scientific papers on the subject in spiders. Research has focused both on the process of sexual selection itself, for example on the signals and various modalities involved, and on the patterns, that is the outcome of mate choice and competition depending on certain parameters. Sexual selection has most clearly been demonstrated in cases involving visual and acoustical signals but most spiders are myopic and mute, relying rather on vibrations, chemical and tactile stimuli. This review argues that research has been biased towards modalities that are relatively easily accessible to the human observer. Circumstantial and comparative evidence indicates that sex... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591816 Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:00:00 +0100 1591816 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1591815&cid=s_37598_62_f&fid=37598&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fentrez%2Fquery.fcgi%3Ftmpl%3DNoSidebarfile%26db%3DPubMed%26cmd%3DRetrieve%26list_uids%3D16094805%26dopt%3DAbstract Authors: Glen AS, Dickman CR Mammalian carnivore populations are often intensively managed, either because the carnivore in question is endangered, or because it is viewed as a pest and is subjected to control measures, or both. Most management programmes treat carnivore species in isolation. However, there is a large and emerging body of evidence to demonstrate that populations of different carnivores interact with each other in a variety of complex ways. Thus, the removal or introduction of predators to or from a system can often affect other species in ways that are difficult to predict. Wildlife managers must consider such interactions when planning predator control programmes. Integrated predator control will require a greater understanding of the complex relationships between spe... Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1591815 Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:00:00 +0100 1591815